Zeitschrift für klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie
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Compound Heterozygous VSX2 Mutation Causing Bilateral Anophthalmia in a Consanguineous Egyptian Family

Cecilia Jakobsson, Mohamed A Youssef, Iman Marzouk, Nihal ElShakankiri, Nader Bayoumi, Francis L. Munier, Daniel F Schorderet and Hana Abouzeid

Purpose: To report the clinical and genetic study of a child with bilateral anophthalmia.
Methods: A 14-year-old Egyptian boy, born from consanguineous parents, underwent a general and a full ophthalmological examination. Mutation screen of the A/M genes with recessive inheritance was done stepwise and DNA was analyzed by Sanger sequencing.
Results: Bilateral anophthalmia, arachnodactyly of the feet and high arched palate were observed on general examination. The parents were first cousins and healthy. Sequencing analysis revealed a novel compound heterozygous mutation in one of the copy of exon 2 of VSX2 and a possible deletion of at least exon 2 on the other allele.
Conclusions: A compound heterozygous VSX2 mutation associated with anophthalmia was identified in a patient from an Egyptian consanguineous family. This report brings the number of VSX2 mutation in anophthalmia/ microphthalmia (A/M) to 13. Functional consequences of the reported changes still need to be characterized, as well as the percentage of A/M caused by mutations in the VSX2 gene. This family also shows that despite consanguinity, heterozygous mutations can also happen and one should not restrict the molecular analysis to homozygous mutations.